ADELAIDE, DECEMBER 13: Till late into the afternoon, the Indian bowlers and fielders strived hard in the hot Adelaide sun and succeeded in forcing Australia to bat even after tea to give their team a glimmer of hope to save the Test match and a chance to the batsmen to redeem themselves. It took no more than half an hour in the evening for that hope to evaporate into thin air as the batsmen threw in the towel in meek submission as India are now hurtling towards a humiliating defeat.The story of day four of this first Test match saw a shocking decision, again by Darryl Harper, by declaring Sachin Tendulkar out when the batsman was hit on the shoulder while he ducked under a short ball from Glenn McGrath which did not rise as much as the batsman expected. The ball would have gone above the stumps as at the moment of impact. Harper took his time before declaring Tendulkar out, pressurised perhaps by McGrath's second appeal. So rattled may have been the umpire been that he declared a five-ball ball over. Itwas an appalling decision which only underlines the umpiring standards in Australia. The best batsman, not only in the team but in the world, out to a second debatable decision in the match.Harper later may have reprieved Saurav Ganguly when the batsman may have gloved a short ball from Kasprowicz to the 'keeper underlining the fact that umpiring in this Test has been well below par.But to put the entire blame of the dismal Indian batting on Tendulkar's dismissal would be absolving India for their failures. When Tendulkar came into bat, India were 24 for three. Devang Gandhi was rattled by a McGrath lifter to the first ball he faced. McGarth bowled four more short balls before pitching one up and and Gandhi drove loosely to be caught behind.VVS Laxman's sluggish footwork to the very first ball he faced - a perfectly pitched outswinger - meant the ball had just enough space to squeeze past the gate.Rahul Dravid recorded another failure. His problem, it seems, is spin more than pace. This timeWarne found enough turn and bounce to find his gloves and the wicket-keeper's gloves.Walked in Tendulkar with India at death's door. Walked back Tendulkar after only six minutes and with a duck to his name. India had no hope.Despite the gloomy situation, Ganguly batted beautifully. At the other end, there was also no evidence of Sadgopan Ramesh's lack of footwork, as he played McGrath well and was timing the ball extremely well when, of all things in the world, he decided to offer his pads to a Shane Warne leg-spinner.One man who has come out with credit in this match is MSK Prasad. He has kept wickets well and not dropped a catch. Ganguly, showing heart of steel, walked fair distance upto him and offered some words of encouragement before the two got together and batted for 11 overs to save India the ignominy of getting dismissed in just one session.The morning had begun in great hope for India. Tendulkar's captaincy was imaginative, aggressive and dot on spot. This time he did not set defensivefields and forced the batsmen to force the pace. His bowlers responded splendidly. Anil Kumble bowled an impeccable length. Ajit Agarkar was a revelation, putting a lot behind his thin frame and getting rid of the two key Australian batsmen - the Waugh twins. Venkatesh Prasad was on spot and so was Javagal Srinath. It was a great struggle for the Australians, looking for quick runs and an appropriate time for declaration. And finally when they did, India were required to bat only four sessions. As things transpired, they barely managed to last one session.ScoreboardAustralia (1st innings): 441ia (1st innings): 285tralia (2nd innings):Michael Slater c Ganguly b Srinath (10m, 9b) 0(edging a moving ball)Greg Blewett b Agarkar (344m, 262b, 8x4) 88(wild heave across the line)Justin Langer c Gandhi b Kumble (101m, 72b, 4x4) 38(gloved to short leg)Mark Waugh c Laxman b Agarkar (62m, 42b, 1x4) 8(beaten outside the off stump, leadingedge)Steve Waugh c MSK Prasad b Agarkar (32m, 23b) 5(beaten outside the off stump)Ricky Ponting c MSK Prasad b V Prasad (68m, 52b, 2x4) 21(beaten ouside the off stump, fine catch)Adam Gilchrist c Laxman b Srinath (108m, 46b, 5x4) 43(skies ball, caught at short gully by fielder running in from deep)Shane Warne c Dravid b Srinath (6m, 5b) 0(airy drive to cover)Michael Kasprowicz not out (34m, 28b, 1x4) 21Extras (b 3, lb 8, nb 2, w 2): 15Total (for 8 wickets, in 89.5 overs): 386Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Slater), 2-65 (Langer), 3-95 (Mark Waugh), 4-113 (Steve Waugh), 5-153 (Ponting), 6-204 (Blewett), 7-205 (Warne)Bowling: Srinath 21.5-4-64-3, Agarkar 18-6-43-3, Prasad 18-5-48-1 Kumble 32-9-73-1India (2nd innings):Debang Gandhi c Gilchrist b McGrath (4m, 6b) 0(fishing outside the off stump)Sadagoppan Ramesh lbw Warne (80m, 50b, 3x4) 28VVS Laxman b Fleming (1m, 1b) 0(beaten by themovement)Rahul Dravid c Gilchrist b Warne (29m, 16b) 6(gloves ball which turns and bounces)Sachin Tendulkar lbw McGrath (6m, 5b) 0(ducking to a short ball which hits shoulder)Saurav Ganguly batting (78m, 57b, 3x4) 31MSK Prasad batting (43m, 57b, 3x4) 6Extras (nb 5): 5Total (for 5 wickets, in 26 overs): 76Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Gandhi), 2-3 (Laxman), 3-24 (Dravid), 4-27 (Tendulkar) 5-48 (Ramesh)Bowling: McGrath 6-1-19-2, Fleming 3-1-13-1, Warne 10-6-21-2, Kasprowicz 6-0-23-0, Mark Waugh 1-1-0-0
